Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

John Steel "Jock" Lewes (21 December 1913 – 30 December 1941) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer prominent during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was the founding principal training officer of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

.''Army News'' ustralia 11 January 1945, p3. Its founding commander, David Stirling, said later of Lewes, "Jock could far more genuinely claim to be founder of the SAS than I." Lewes also invented an explosive device for use by the SAS, the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous Lewes bomb.

Early life, family and education

Lewes was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

to a British father, chartered accountant Arthur Harold Lewes, and an Australian mother, Elsie Steel Lewes. The family moved to Australia and Lewes grew up at Bowral,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. As a teenager he attended

The King's School, Parramatta The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, bo ...

. Lewes travelled to the United Kingdom to attend

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, from September 1933, where he read

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

. In 1936–37, he was president of the

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the Rowing (sport), rowing club for the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in 1829. The prime constitutional aim of OUBC is to beat Cambridge Univers ...

. During 1937 he voluntarily gave up his place in the Oxford Blue boat crew, to assist it in winning that year's University Boat Race, and ending a 15-year winning streak by Cambridge. Lewes travelled to Berlin to work for the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

and, before the events of ''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

'' in 1938, was briefly an admirer of Hitler and the Nazi state. A younger brother, David Steel Lewes, was later prominent as a

cardiologist Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

in the United Kingdom and was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

medical officer during the war.

Military career

Early career

Lewes was first commissioned to the British Army's

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

as a university candidate on 5 July 1935, while a student at Oxford. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was briefly transferred to a Territorial Army unit, the 1st Battalion, Tower Hamlets Rifles,

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

on 2 September 1939 before joining the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

on 28 October.

SAS

In 1941, Lewes was in a group of volunteers assembled by David Stirling to form a unit dedicated to raiding missions against the lines of communication of Axis forces in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. For

military deception Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ...

and counterespionage purposes, this

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

-sized group was at first officially known as "L" Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade. To destroy Axis vehicles, members of the SAS surreptitiously attached small explosive charges. Lewes noticed the respective weaknesses of conventional blast and incendiaries, as well as their failure to destroy vehicles in some cases. He improvised a new, combined charge out of plastic explosive, diesel and thermite. The Lewes bomb was used throughout the Second World War.

Death

In late December 1941, Lewes was involved in an SAS/

Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, ...

raid on Axis airfields in Libya. As the raiders returned to Allied lines, their vehicles were repeatedly attacked by Italian and German aircraft. While returning fire on 30 December, near "

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today th ...

" (El Gaus; ''Arco dei Fileni''), Lewes was reportedly hit in the thigh by a 20 mm cannon round and died at the scene of the attack.

Recognition

Lewes is commemorated on the

Alamein Memorial The Alamein Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial in the El Alamein War Cemetery, El Alamein, Egypt. The memorial commemorates 11,866 Commonwealth forces members who died during World War II. The memorial was designed by ...

Personal life

At the time of his death, Lewes was engaged to marry Mirren Barford, an Oxford undergraduate. Their love letters were collected and published by Barford's son in 1995.

In popular culture

Lewes was depicted by Alfie Allen in the 2022 television historical drama '' SAS: Rogue Heroes''.

Notes

References

*Cowles, Virginia. ''The Phantom Major''. *Wise, Michael, ed. ''Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters''.

External links

British Army Officers 1939–1945
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jock 1913 births 1941 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Welsh Guards officers Rifle Brigade officers Special Air Service officers British Army personnel killed in World War II British people of Australian descent Oxford University Boat Club rowers Australian people of British descent People educated at The King's School, Parramatta People of the British Council Deaths by airstrike during World War II Military personnel from Kolkata Military personnel of British India